Posted on 04/17/2012 10:24:31 AM PDT by KingofZion
A suspected Southern California copper thief has been electrocuted after climbing a power pole and using bolt cutters on a live wire, which also caused a power outage. The San Bernardino County Sun ( http://bit.ly/IEc5yx) says the body of 26-year-old Robert Buchanan and bolt cutters were found early Monday at the base of a utility pole in an unincorporated area near Fontana. Nearly 3,100 Southern California Edison customers were without power for about 90 minutes. San Bernardino County sheriff's investigators say Buchanan apparently used the bolt cutters to cut live wires from the pole. A sheriff's spokeswoman says Edison wires are a frequent target of metal recyclers.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Yes, but only for that and smoking (which offense he also committed immediately after sentence was carried out for the first one).
Damned racist white electrons! Probably conservative too!
I thought if you put your tongue on a wire it should taste sour so you know there is electricty flowing.
HE DID IT!
HE DID IT!
He discovered FREE ENERGY!
Perhaps he thought that if he was fast enough he would not close the circuit.
I used to work for a large power company in California. One night a real dummy tried to steal some copper from one of our power plants.
It literally blew him to pieces.
I worked Bell System. I think they are sometimes thinking they are getting a phone cable, if it’s sheathed. Bare wire i cannot comprehend.
One Hell of a way to be wrong.
When I was a kid, I tried to stick a car key into a power outlet. Mom screamed and ran to stop me. My Dad stopped her. He said, “Let the little rat learn about electricity.” His nickname for me was Sparky.
I did something similar when I was around 4. No key, I think it was a worn cord, or maybe I partly pulled out the plug and touched the still-energized prongs. Hurt like crazy. For about 5 seconds. I cried. I felt better. I work on live circuits all the time now and haven't managed to electrocute myself yet. (Maybe that early experience created an addiction!)
I read an interesting article in a trade rag a month or two ago where they actually had the stones to question current levels of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) requirements, and published a survey where a lot of electrical and controls engineers said they frequently ignored the "requirements" when working in live panels. These requirements have gotten so out of hand if they applied in your home, you couldn't plug in a lamp or change a light bulb without full fire retardant gear, insulating gloves and full face mask. Ludicrous.
Even in the commentary in the article and the follow-up article, they couldn't completely shed their nannyish mindset, referring to the stuff as "necessary" or "needed" gear (as opposed to maybe "mandated"), even in a sentence acknowledging how many knowledgeable people think it's moronic.
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